A WEEKLY ILLUSTRATED JOURNAL OF SCIENCE. 



" To the solid ground 

 Nature trusts the mind which builds for aye."- 



-WORDSWORTH. 



THURSDAY, MAY 7, 1903. 



THE SCIENCE OF FLOUR MILLING. 

 Le Froment et sa Mouture. Par Girard et Lindet. 

 Pp. vii + 355. (Paris: Gauthler-Villars, 1903.) 

 Price 12 francs. 



AT the time of the regretted death of Prof. Girard 

 in 1898, much valuable scientific work had been 

 accomplished by him, and the results given to the 

 world at large. But as must almost of necessity occur 

 when a busy man is taken away from his labours, 

 there also remained some fasks commenced but not 

 completed. Among these was a projected treatise on 

 flour milling, of which, however. Prof. Girard left 

 but the general plan and the unfinished manuscript 

 of three chapters. These materials were entrusted to 

 M. Lindet, who has completed the work and supplied 

 the book now before us. The author refers to the fact 

 that neither himself nor Prof. Girard was a practical 

 miller, but that the book is the production of two men 

 of science. An examination of its pages shows it to 

 possess those merits which might be expected from 

 the previous training of the writers, and also, it must 

 be added, the defects which spring from the same 

 cause. 



The first chapter deals with the production of wheat 

 in various French districts, and also with the corn 

 markets of Paris and the provinces. In passing, it 

 may be noted that in France, as well as in England, 

 they still suffer from the adoption of different systems 

 of weights and measures in the different local corn 

 markets. Thus, Troyes has a unit of 121 kilos., while 

 La Charente adopts 80 kilos, as its measure, and other 

 markets intermediate quantities. The authors deplore 

 the grave inconveniences which result from such differ- 

 ences, and look forward to a time when the metric 

 quintal shall have been universally adopted. With 

 France as the birthplace of the metric system, there 

 is perhaps some consolation in knowing that England 

 is not the only country ruled in this matter by old- 

 fashioned conservatism. 



Following on this introduction, the writers next deal 



NO. 1749, VOL. 68] 



with the chemical composition and the alimentary 

 value of the different parts of the wheat grain. The 

 botanical distinctions between such parts and their 

 separation and estimation are first described, tables 

 being given which show the relative percentages of 

 envelopes, germ, and flour-producing kernel or endo- 

 sperm in leading types of wheat. The histology, 

 chemical composition, and analysis of the envelope are 

 next given, particular attention being devoted to the 

 constitution of cerealin and the important r6le it plays 

 in the process of panification. In pursuit of this line 

 of investigation, the influence of the various parts of 

 the envelope on those milling products which ultim- 

 ately find their way into the flour is examined very 

 minutely. The experiments and arguments of M^ge- 

 Mouri^s are followed closely, and his conclusions to 

 the effect that the inclusion of branny particles in 

 flour results in the production of dark-coloured and 

 inferior bread are fully endorsed. The authors 

 further conclude that the branny matters of wheat are 

 devoid of utility for purposes of human alimentation, 

 being practically undigested by man, and consequently 

 inassimilable. An experiment made by Prof. Girard 

 on himself is described at full length. Being in per- 

 fect health, and with the digestive faculties in excel- 

 lent condition, he ate a quantity of pure wheat grain 

 envelopes, and analysed these when excreted at the 

 close of the process of digestion. The necessary pre- 

 cautions were of course taken to ensure exact and 

 trustworthy data being obtained, and Prof. Girard 's re- 

 sults show that there is practically no assimilation of 

 proteid bodies from the bran ingested. There is, how- 

 ever, a certain absorption of mineral substances, but 

 this only amounts to 4 grams of mineral matter per 

 kilogram of bread made from " entire flour " (whole- 

 meal). Having regard to the quantity and variety of 

 such matter in a modern diet, the authors regard the 

 gain of these 4 grams as having no serious import- 

 ance, and, in a word, condemn entirely and without 

 reserve the inclusion of the bran in wheaten flour. 



In studying the action of the germ, the authors are 

 impressed with the fact that fresh germ has a charac- 

 teristic odour and flavour which are in themselves 

 pleasant. They further recognise that germ contains 



B 



